Randy Guijarro unveils a large enhanced copy of The Croquet Photo Check the description 4 interview

This tintype was purchased by Randy Guijarro in California on June 10, 2010, at Fulton’s Antique Shop. According to Randy, the photo is the wedding photo of Charlie Bowdre and wife Manuela. The woman standing next to the newlyweds on the horses is possibly Susan McSween. The man pointing is said to be Tom O’Folliard. The house is on the old Tunstall ranch about 60 miles south of Lincoln.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Randy. Here is what he will tell us for now:
“I found the tintype approximately June 2010, I always refer to it as Fulton’s Follies, an antique shop that has been long closed. I got three photos, two tintypes and a cabinet card, for $2.00 . I got two tintypes; the other one is related to the Croquet Kid.
“Sally Chisum set up the tintype photo for the wedding celebration of Charlie and Manuela Bowdre. Sally wrote in her diary about this event. She wrote about the trip on the drive out to Tunstall's ranch, mentioning the flinty ground. You should see it in person! I have some flinty ground from the cabin site. Sally bought gingham cloth in Las Vegas, NM, and other things for the celebration. In my tintype, the girls are wearing new dresses made from gingham cloth, and the lace she mentions is there. The store in Las Vegas, NM, also advertised cardigan sweaters, along with croquet sets. If you look closely at Billy, he's wearing the famous hat, and one of the boys in the photo is sporting an Uncle Billy hat look. Here's a missed gem: look at Billy's hand, and you will see his gambler’s ring. As for Susan McSween, she took over as executor of Tunstall's affairs from her dead husband. Back then, the US government did not go after lawbreakers that committed crimes against foreigners. That really pissed off the Tunstall family in England.
“The structure in my photograph measures exactly 21x21 ft. square. When we went to the location for the documentary, we measured the structure for the first time, and it came out to 21x42 ft. square. But we noticed that an addition to the original structure had been added; and upon further investigation, it has been verified that the original structure size was 21x21 ft. square.
“You can bury the dead but you can't bury the Truth!!”
So how did this photo turn up in California a century later? Historian/Researcher David Turk tracked the photo. Turk claims that the tintype was in the Bowdre family and that Charlie’s brother Benjamin had possession of it at his home in Arkansas. This brother was said to have been Charlie’s closest sibling, and he presumably collected Charlie’s possessions from his widow Manuela, either after Charlie was killed or - more likely - after she remarried. Evidence on the photo shows a hole in the top where it probably was hung by a nail at one time. The tintype was later inherited by Benjamin's daughter, who was residing in California.
Will this tintype get its needed provenance? I leave you with this riddle:
What do beauty and provenance have in common?
They are both in the eye of the beholder.
I will say this, after watching the National Geographic episode on Randy’s photo, It instantly restored my infatuation with the mysteries that surround the life of Billy the Kid.
#billythekid #newmexico